ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday rejected the appeal of Forest Guard Fazal Mukhtar regarding payment of pension.

A three-member Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi heard the case filed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Forest Department employee Fazal Mukhtar regarding payment of pension.

During the course of proceedings, Advocate Hazrat Saeed counsel for the petitioner said that his client was recruited as Forest Guard on the project in 1989 and fired in 1994 and later, he was freshly appointed in the department. He pleaded that the years of his client’s service which he did as a project employee had not been counted while paying his pension.

The Chief Justice while addressing Additional Advocate General KPK Qasim Wadood said the government departments in KPK were unable to pay salaries and pensions. He said the government was borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to give salaries and pension. This was a difficult way of paying the salaries of government employees through loans, he added.

Smuggling must be stopped to boost industry in KP: Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi

The Additional Advocate General said the province could not receive direct funds from the IMF and the World Bank. Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi said the biggest reason for the damage to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa economy was smuggling. Smuggling must be stopped to boost industry in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added. He said that effective measures were necessary to eliminate elements involved in smuggling in KPK.